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Does the Quick-Fix Oxygen Facial Really Work?

EVIE EVANGELOU, a spa publicist and consultant in New York City, has scoured the world for new and unusual beauty regimens to lure clients to Now, a spa that is scheduled to open on Madison Avenue in May. Last week Ms. Evangelou discovered a treatment courtesy of Madonna that she says could be the next big thing: the hyperbaric oxygen facial. Madonna has recommended it on her Web site and in an interview with Harper's Bazaar.

The facial involves a machine that sprays atomized moisturizers onto the skin using a stream of pressurized oxygen. The treatment is supposed to hydrate skin immediately, making the face appear smoother and plumper.

"So many celebrities are doing the treatment because it temporarily diminishes all the tiny imperfections that would otherwise be visible on high-definition TV," said Michelle Peck, a masseuse from Los Angeles. Ms. Peck is referred to as Madonna's personal oxygen treatment facialist on the Web site madonna.com. She came to Manhattan last week to demonstrate the facial on Ms. Evangelou and other spa managers, a trip sponsored by the maker of the oxygen compressor used in the facials.

As trendy as the oxygen facial may be, there is no hard evidence of its effectiveness, and academic experts are skeptical. Dr. Christopher B. Zachary, a professor and the dermatology department chairman at the University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine, bluntly labeled it "snake oil."

He suggested that the plumping or swelling effect might be mild inflammation caused by the blasts of compressed oxygen. "If you wanted puffy eyes, you could also go out for a hard night's drinking," he said.

The status of oxygen facials -- embraced by some doctors, spas and beauty mavens with little or no scientific evidence -- is typical of many cosmetic treatments that do not claim to alter the skin. Manufacturers are not required to conduct studies or submit such devices for approval to the Food and Drug Administration. Consumers are on their own in deciding whether to embrace the treatments, or rather, they are influenced by marketing, magazines, celebrity tastes and in some cases early-adopter doctors.

The lack of clinical evidence on oxygen facials has not prevented prominent dermatologists from offering them for up to $500. Six weekly treatments, followed by monthly "maintenance" treatments, are recommended to keep the face looking dewy and juiced up, Ms. Peck said.

Dr. Bradford R. Katchen, a dermatologist in New York City who just bought an oxygen compressor for his office, said the treatment is most appropriate for film or television actresses or for people who plan to attend a special event.

"It's the ultimate hydration therapy that makes your skin look better instantly and stay that way for a few days," said Dr. Katchen. The facials may provide a moisture boost that makes skin smoother so that it is easier to apply makeup, he said.

Since the 1930's doctors have used hyperbaric -- meaning high-pressure-- oxygen inhalation chambers to force pure oxygen into the blood stream and tissue of oxygen-deprived deep-sea divers. The spas and dermatologists promoting these facials describe them as a way to force oxygen and moisturizers temporarily into aging skin.

"We hope that the oxygen is creating a pressure bubble that drives vitamins and nutrients into the skin," said Dr. Fredric Brandt, a dermatologist in Miami and New York City. "But we have no data to support that." After he learned about the treatment from one of Madonna's personal assistants, Dr. Brandt ordered the machine for his Miami office, where aestheticians began offering oxygen facials last month, he said.

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Americans have had about 20,000 oxygen facials in the last year, said Anthony McMahon, the chief executive of Intraceuticals, the Australian company behind the oxygen compressor and its treatment products.

The theory of the facial is that pressurized oxygen speeds the skin's absorption of moisturizing agents like hyaluronic acid (a carbohydrate that attracts water), Mr. McMahon said. But Intraceuticals, which has sold the $10,000 oxygen compressors to about 100 spas and dermatologists in the United States, has not run any clinical tests to see how the treatment works on the skin's top and underlying layers, he noted.

"We haven't run any medical-style clinical trials because we are not making any biological claims," Mr. McMahon said. "The instant results speak for themselves."

Last week in a hotel room in Manhattan, Ms. Peck demonstrated the facial on the right side of Ms. Evangelou's face. First she poured a protein solution into the nozzle of the compressor and carefully sprayed it around Ms. Evangelou's right eye and along the creases that run from her nostrils to the outer corners of her lip. As the treatment progressed, these areas seemed to swell slightly.

Then Ms. Peck poured a hyaluronic acid solution into the compressor and sprayed the mist in short parallel strokes all over the right side of Ms. Evangelou's face and along her jaw line. After Ms. Peck was finished, she led Ms. Evangelou into the bathroom so that they could both examine her face in the mirror.

"Look how smooth and more awake you look on that side," Ms. Peck said. "Do you see how one of your eyes looks a lot more open than the other, and the apple of your cheek is plumped up?"

Cecilia Brown, the manager of the Now spa, who works with Ms. Evangelou, agreed that she could see a marked change. "You look lopsided," Ms. Brown said as she pointed to the right side of Ms. Evangelou's face. "This side looks swollen."

Ms. Evangelou seemed please with her plumped-up look. "We are buying this machine for the spa right away," she said.

Others are taking a more skeptical approach to high-pressure oxygen facials. Dr. Katchen said he sees it as a new technology that in the absence of scientific data from Intraceuticals he plans to test on himself.

"It's a spa device with limited benefits," said Dr. Katchen. "It has no more and no less validity than a facial."

Skin Deep Correction: April 13, 2006, Thursday The Skin Deep article last Thursday, about oxygen facials, misstated the name of a spa that is to open next month in Manhattan. It is Nao, not Now.

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A version of this article appears in print on April 6, 2006, on Page G00003 of the National edition with the headline: Skin Deep; Does the Quick-Fix Oxygen Facial Really Work?. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe